Some fun surprises

Here's the Guys..

Here's the guys minus Sam...with their new toys. Tanner's scissors were the hit of the morning...he loves to do crafts.

I now know about....

Merry Christmas to each of my loved ones.
I now know what a blizzard really feels and looks like. Mike and I got up early and headed out in this mess to make it to Cindy's house for brunch and family Christmas. Worst weather I have ever been out traveling. We drove the truck, but do not have 4x4 drive. Paul and his family made it...but they do have 4x4. Cindy's in-laws could not make it....so we stayed for her dinner she was preparing for them. We finally returnd home around 7:30 PM. Really, really a white knuckle ride home.
Cound not imagine seeing Helen's kids outside without coats, therefore, I love Fleta's poem.
I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Home Again...

Greeting all~ we are once again home. We made a quick run to St.Louis to deliver packages to our nephews. They were too heavy to mail. It was 57 when we left St.Louis and it was 18 when we pulled into our driveway.
Remodeling continues...our son worked while we were gone. I'll send along pictures when the first project is complete...maybe next year.

Milestone Reached..

Last night we attended Sam's Christmas program. This is the first time he has particpated. He did a fantastic job and was on stage for 45 minutes. He even got to play one of the rythm instruments. He has a fantastic Music teacher and a wonderful 3rd Grade teacher. It was a real milestone for him....we are so proud. Sorry I have no pictures...something is wrong again with the computer. However, just take my word...he was the cutest kid up there He got to go for a frosty at Wendy's afterwards.
So far the snow has missed us...we have it north and south of us. I was able to have my PEO luncheon and Chinese Auction today. It was a real success and somehow...I did not have to call it off because of the weather. This event had been planned for over 6 months and we made close to $1,000.

Really in the dumps...

I don't think I have ever gone into the holidays feeling this low.....just can't pull it all together :( Maybe church will help tomorrow...I'm sure going to lift some serious prayers.

We had a thankful day...

It was a joy this evening to read all the blogs of my dear cousins. It sure sounds like we are all so blessed.
Skip called early this morning and we had the best talk....I sure wish we lived closer to one another because we sure miss one another.
I probably had the smallest gathering I have had in many years and it was just wonderful. I think my grandboys like the rainbow jello and rolls better than anything. Helen...I'm impressed you make your own. I invite Sister Shubert and I can't fill my family up....she makes a really fantastic yeast dinner roll.
Here is the recipe for rainbow jello:
7 boxes of different colors of jello...do not use sugar free (it's yuck!)
Use a 13x9 pan
Dissolve on box of jello in 1 cup boiling water
Divide into two 1/2 cups
To 1/2 cup you add 1/4 cup sour cream-this is your first layer
Pour into 13x9 dish...it will be a very thin layer
Wait 20 minutes, then pour clear layer on top
Do this every 20 minutes...or check to see if set up after several layers

Sometime...I do it one evening and then finish the next morning
When you are going to leave it for awhile....I cover the dish with either wrap or a snap top.

It takes awhile to make, but it is so worth it....your grandkids will just giggle.

I love you all....you are dear, dear family

Happy Thanksgiving..

I want to wish all my cousins a very Happy Thanksgiving and tell you how much I appreciate the lift you all give me every day.
I am thankful for my dear family and I will have all of them here for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. It will be a small crowed for us....we usually have around 18 or 19.
More sadness....a couple in our Sunday School class had two of their grand boys killed in a car wreck over near St.Louis. The other two boys that were in the car were Life Flighted to a Children's Hospital in St. Louis. The two that were killed were 6 and 10. Another 10 year old and 7 year old are now out of Intensive Care. The other grandmother was driving the 4 boys home from a church activity and she was killed in the accident also.
Hold your family near and dear this holiday.... we have certainly learned over the last few weeks that your life can change on a dime.

The Sun is shinning...

The sun is shinning today and God's holy embrace is surrounding our friend that passed away peacefully this morning.

I'm Looking for sunshine.....

It sure would be a blessing today if the sun would shine. It has been dark outside since Saturday that the sky dropped some icky rain on us ....including a skiff of snow on Sunday morning. All this has contributed to my mood....along with my daughter's best friend being tested for MS yesterday. Whe had good news around 5 PM that things were all clear and that she did not have MS...Praise God!
Mike and I have a dear friend from church that is in the last part of his journey with Hospice...he has Brain Cancer...and the news was tough to take yesterday, but we know his suffering will be over soon and he will be in God's loving arms.
So....I did react over the top yesterday about the meeting with the teacher. I have been, so has my daughter, on the other side of the desk. I know very little of the incident or the other actions of granddaughter's teacher. I'm glad the meeting went well and that this incident is behind you for your granddaughter's sake and I hope the rest of this semester goes well.
Patsy...you are very dear to me......
Let's all pray for sunshine today and calmer moods.

What a mess...

Just a short note to let you all know that we are in the middle of a remodel to two of our bathrooms. Our son Paul is really great at doing all sort of things...so we are on his schedule since he works a really long week. I am so tickled, I don't care how messed up things are. Just so I look like I am busy also, I have been cleaning drawers and closets. It's wonderful to get rid of so much accumulated junk.

Last Hurrah!!

Now my beautiful tree is all in bags for the compost group....when she went, she went like whooosh!

Hasn't been the greatest....

Sorry for not blogging lately. Many friends in bad shape and we have been helping wherever we are able.
Dear friend, brain cancer...now home and with Hospice. I am coordinating the take in food.
Friend named Larry, shot while on duty with Police Force...won't be able to weight on foot for 30 days. He and his wife have a 7 month old.
Friend named Chris, still in burn unit, but doing better. He is a Fire Captain.

I read your blogs every day, but just wanted you all to know I have not fallen of a roof or something.

Beautiful Day...

We had a beautiful morning to watch Tanner play soccer. The field was muddy, but they played just fine. One little girl on the other team did not have on cleats and she just kept fallling.

Going....Going....

As you can see...our beauty is fading. By Sunday, I think I beautiful tree will be completely bare.

Enjoying so much...

As you can see....we are really enjoying these few beautiful days of our tree. It sure makes me smile and feel good.

Taking Advantage..

Mike is here on his scooter taking advantage of the last few warm days. He loves to ride to the store or to Paxton's games or practice. He finally has a scooter that has enough power.

Palin, Palin......

They just announced on our news that good ole' Palin is going to speak at S of O. Sure hope they don't go out to Inspiration Point...I think Mom might rise up ans spit in her face. Politics always embarrassed my Dad.

We're back home...

We got in yesterday after spending several days down at the camper winterizing. The trees in southern MO were not all that great this year.....but my beautiful Japanese Maple waited for me to get home and see it. It is just fantastic again this year. I think Mike and I have taken a picture from every possible angle. I will post a few...the one with Samuel, of course, will be first.

Where did fall go?

We barely finished up the trim and then all of a sudden it is winter!!!! Yuck!!!

Sprucing up

..Mike and I have been painting the trim of our house...we are worn out

Paul's cake

This was Paul's cake for the party last night. Paul really enjoys Jimmy Buffett...thus the tropical theme. I talked to Dawn a little while ago and I ask what time the party broke up....she said they got home at 2 AM.

Meet Gretchen

This is Gretchen. She is Sam's puppy and she is a Shi-Su and she is just 4 months old. She has been visiting since Thursday night and she goes home tomorrow....she misses Sam and Sam misses her. They get up at 5 AM at their house, so Gretchen thinks she needs to get up at 5 AM at my house.
Now I love dogs, but I can assure you....I'm not ready to have another dog. The last dog we had lived for 18 years.

Surprise...Surprise

We really surprised Paul this evening for his 40th! His birthday was actually on the 9th and we had a really special family birthday party....crab legs and shrimp. We knew he was really bummed that he didn't have a big 40th party...but we got him tonight. Yeah!
Everyone probably is still there enjoying the keg....but, that's not my thing and I was the oldest one there. I took plenty of party pics. Mike was not able to go because he is down with a horrible cough and Cindy's family is down in Branson. They are celebrating her 37th...which is tomorrow. We are keeping the puppy for them...the little dog is so cute, but it got me up at 5 AM this morning. She had better be a sleepyhead in the morning.

Off to Chouteau..

I accomplished delivering the very full back packs this morning.....glad we had sunshine!

Back Packs ready..

Our church are partners with a nearby elementary school. Every year our Guild gets together and we donate 12 complete back packs complete with required supplies for each grade level.
I'm getting ready to take them down to the school this morning.

Our Govenor and Family...

Here is a picture of our Govenor, his wife Georganne and their sons Jer and Will Nixon. This was their Christmas card for 2008.

Proof is in the pudding..

I was really delighted to recieve this note from our Govenor today. I just wish we had had the camera along for a good picture. I surely do appreciate this man.....he has truly been a man of his word. We have liked him ever since he started in politics in Missouri.

Heading Out

Anna Mae is doing better and her son and daughter-in-law are home now. We will head to the camper for awhile...much needed break!

My friend fell...

Nancy's mom, Anna Mae, fell and I have been helping all I can. She doesn't want to go into the hospital, but it may be what needs to be done. It's not much fun growing old.

Eunice Shriver...

We certainly did loose a very special lady this week. I had the pleasure of working with her when I was teaching. Not only did she champion special need children, but she worked in so many different educational projects. I was fortunate enough to work with her in a program called Community of Caring. She was all about helping and working with all children. She was about training people to help people and giving of your time and talents.

Autism Walk

Today we walked with Samuel for Autism Awareness to raise money for Autism. Sam named his team "Samuel's Super Soles."
In a week's time, Samuel raised $840 which I think is fantastic.
This sign was located about 3/4 of the way around the 2 mile walk and we thought it was a great sign.
It rained on us the entire walk, but we had a great time.

Grandma and Sam

This was before we started our two mile hike in the pouring rain

Sam in the Rain

Sam walked the entire 2 miles with his umbrella and he didn't complain once!

I'll Catch you up.......

On April 1st we went down to Bennett to open the camper.....all went well, not critters had been inside during the winter. We were really happy about our ability to ward off all the little four legged critters.
We came back home and worked most of the weekend at church on our fund raiser...Palm Sunday Brunch. Mike and I are both cooks and when we finished on Sunday, we were dog tired!
Sunday evening, the owner of the camp grounds called and said that Bennett Spring was in for 3 days of really hard freezes and we were going to be in a real mess if we did not rewinterized....so what is another $150.
Today was court day and a tour of the Juvenile Justice System....yeah, it's over for today!
I read each of your blogs every day and I just love hearing what is going on with all of you.
I wish I could say Happy Spring....but, this cold weather will not go away!

Urban Legend.....

They say that the last snow fall has not hit until all the leaves are off the oak trees. Well....our pin oak and our white oak still have some stubborn leaves hanging on. Now they say we will have 4 to 8 inches of snow tomorrow!!!! Just this week all the other trees have budded out and the daffodils are blooming......as the saying goes, just stick around in MO and the weather will change.
I have been well.......but sooooo busy. This Grand Jury thing is really messing up my schedule.

I'm trying!!!!!

Some how I have lost my ability to scan or import pictures. Frustration is a mild term for how I feel about all this. Eventually, I will get my son-in-law over here to the house to straighten it all out. I just think the more I fiddle.....the worse it gets. Arrrrrrrgh!

Guess who was chosen???

Yesterday I had to be over in Liberty to report for Grand Jury duty. I have lived in Clay County for 45 years and have never been called.
Out of 100 people, 12 are chosen to be on the Grand Jury----well, I only thought we would have to get through the day. But oh no, I will be on the Grand Jury until June the 2nd. I have to report every-other Tuesday and listen to cases. Our job is to decided if there is enough evidence to go to trail.
It should be interesting, but it sure is a big commitment. The other folks just have to be ready to answer their phone in case one of use doesn't make it to the Jury.
Hoooray for Me!

I'm worn out....

We had all three grandkids all weekend and I am worn slick. They are so good and so much fun, but both Mike and I just looked at each other when they left today around five and said, "we're really glad we are retired and don't have to teach tomorrow!"

Does History Repeat?????

I don't know the answer, but I do believe Americans should wake up and speak out against Rush. He is making 100 million a year and people are forgetting he is an entertainer. He has taken up the mantel of the Republican party and literally screaming ..."the only way America will survive is if President Obama fails." "I want him to Fail!" Where was Rush when Bush destroyed the American way of life and sent us into this Depression?
This man is the Hitler of this century and people are actually being brain washed by him. We knew that bigotry existed, but this man is being paid a fortune to express his bigotry and people are almost worshipping him.
The latest picture I saw of him, he was dressed in all black, shirt part way open and standing in front of a huge American flag. If he starts to grow a small black mustache.....maybe people will realize that this man is close to using his American right of free speech to yell...."the theatre is on fire!" when it is not......thus causing complete panic! I wonder how much Karl Rove and Newt are paying him to be the mouth piece?
It has only been 31 days and they are certainly not out to help our country survive this horrible down turn.....I don't feel that our country is in the shape it was for our parents, but each day the news is more bleek.

Pretend....

Pretend that you are looking at all the beautiful pictures I took of our "4 snow this morning. No one can figure out why all the computers in the area are having difficulty...maybe some satellites collided again. But.....I can not download my pictures to computer, let alone to the blog.
I'm hoping that today is just an Easter Squall, but we will just have to wait and see.
For all those that have written...I'm finally feeling well and now ready to get out and get going.

The Robins are here....

The robins arrived today and I haven't gotten a good picture yet. It should be interesting with 3" of snow tomorrow......maybe it's the last hit!

It is called ups and downs...

I was released by the Dr. and he told me I had no restrictions.......I'm thinking he has not had this operation. It seems that different foods bother me now and make me feel really "lousy". I guess I will just have to live and learn.
Patsy.......I'm still searching for that first robin here in KC. Hasn't shown up yet!!!!